How to Use wampum in a Sentence

wampum

noun
  • Big Chief Chop-a-lot protects Atlanta’s steaming pile of wampum.
    — Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle, 30 Oct. 2021
  • The Iroquois documented the border on their wampum as a white line between two black ones.
    — Porter Fox, Outside Online, 1 June 2018
  • What’s the difference in intrinsic value between wampum and gold?
    — Brent Schrotenboer, USA TODAY, 28 Aug. 2020
  • Look at the aboriginal ways, from visual expression to the wampum belt, dances and oral storytelling.
    — Catherine Porter, New York Times, 19 June 2017
  • Many of his pieces are horizontal, recalling the forms of early panoramic art and the woven wampum belts that are a cultural touchstone of his people.
    — New York Times, 4 Oct. 2021
  • Hartman Deetz, a wampum jewelry maker, is a member of the Mashpee Wampanoag Tribe.
    — Robert Knox, BostonGlobe.com, 17 Aug. 2022
  • One aim is to raise awareness about the missing wampum belt from the 17th century belonging to a Wampanoag chief known as Metacom.
    — Tanya Mohn, New York Times, 10 Mar. 2020
  • During their visit, they were shown some objects in the collection, including the Inuit kayak, wampum belts, war clubs and masks, and asked for them to be returned.
    — NPR, 15 Nov. 2025
  • Onstage with Lizzo on Tuesday, Smith wore a chic purple dress with wampum jewelry that belonged to her late mother.
    — Brittany Bowker, BostonGlobe.com, 8 Dec. 2022
  • No one wanted to stand behind the commanding warriors, draped in blankets and furs, brass hoops in their earlobes, medals and wampum on their strong chests, silver armbands glinting in the light.
    — Literary Hub, 26 May 2026
  • Its judgments have involved wampum belts, blackface, and the removal of a former US president from Facebook.
    — Steven Levy, WIRED, 8 Nov. 2022
  • The findings also point out the settlers routinely traded with the Wangunk and Pequot people, as evidenced by the wampum.
    — Susan Dunne, courant.com, 16 Nov. 2020
  • Consisting of 117 rules recorded on strings of wampum beads, the Great Law was designed to help the Haudenosaunee live in harmony.
    — Cody Cottier, Discover Magazine, 10 Oct. 2022
  • Two portraits of Lenape chieftains hanging above the wampum belt come from the 1730s, when William Penn was long dead and a questionable treaty had taken substantial land from the tribe.
    — Peter Saenger, WSJ, 2 Apr. 2021
  • Prior to 1652, New England settlers used coins from various European countries, along with wampum made from shells, as currency.
    — Livia Gershon, Smithsonian Magazine, 30 Nov. 2021
  • More than 50 of the treaties are written on large sheets of parchment; several contain drawings, maps and wampum, or decorative beads used as currency in some Native American tribes.
    — Nora McGreevy, Smithsonian Magazine, 15 Oct. 2020
  • The tribute would have taken the form of wampum, or shell beads, that New England Indians manufactured from local quahog (in the case of purple beads) and periwinkle and whelk (in the case of white beads).
    — National Geographic, 19 Nov. 2020
  • In thinking about oyster shells, Michelson reflected on the cultural history of shells in Native art, from abalone jewelry to wampum belts used for diplomacy and incorporating hundreds of tiny shells.
    — New York Times, 4 Oct. 2021
  • Grinding corn and making No-Ke-Hick to eat, making wampum belts, studying pelts, tracking animals, and trying their hand at hunting games gave the kids a taste of what life might have been like for indigenous people hundreds of years ago.
    — Denise Coffey, Courant Community, 24 Apr. 2018

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'wampum.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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